OCG, DPP in new row

Friday, December 24, 2010

DIRECTOR of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn and Contractor General Greg Christie are again at odds over whether popular television personality Susan Simes should be charged for her handling of shares in a company for which she is the director.

The latest clash is due to the DPP's amendment of a paragraph in her September ruling clearing Simes -- the director of Simber Production Limited -- of any wrongdoing. The amendment reflects a change of date in the ruling in relation to certain actions by Simes relating to the company's shares.

As a result of the change, Christie yesterday contended that Llewellyn's ruling was "factually flawed" and should not stand.

But in a swift counterclaim, Llewellyn said that the ruling can in no way be affected by the amendment.

Simber Production was two years ago embroiled in a contractual scandal that threatened to smear the names of members the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) board. The scandal stems from a probe by the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) into what was suspected to be the "irregular" awarding of contracts by the State-run bus company to Simber Production, a company in which former JUTC Chairman Douglas Chambers was a shareholder.

Chambers, who was shot dead in June 2008 in Spanish Town, and Simes were the only shareholders in Simber Production.

At the end of the probe, Chrstie said his office found that Chambers was at all times Simber Production's majority shareholder and that three weeks after his death, Simes filed an amended annual return on July 16, 2008 on behalf of Simber, which resulted in her becoming the company's majority shareholder.

The findings from the OCG probe were passed over to Llewellyn's offices for charges to be determined. But in September this year, Llewellyn ruled that no member of the board of the JUTC should be charged. Llewellyn also ruled that no charges could be brought against Simes, as the annual return was filed three weeks prior to Chambers' death.

But Christie took issue with the ruling concerning Simes and wrote several letters to Llewellyn in September, October and December calling on her to seek clarification on the date of Chambers' death. He pointed out that the filing was in fact done three weeks after Chambers' death.

Llewellyn admitted in a letter to Christie on Wednesday that Simes had in fact filed the return three weeks after Chambers' murder.

In response, Christie yesterday issued a statement to the press, declaring that Llewellyn "concedes" that her ruling in the matter was "factually flawed".

But the DPP promptly shot back, saying that a further probe by her office in conjunction with the police had revealed that Simes, who hosts the Susan Show, had been the majority shareholder in the company since August 2006 as reflected by public record.

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OCG, DPP in new row